The 2024 NFL Draft was an uncharacteristic one for how Ohio State was represented in it.
Just four Buckeyes were drafted throughout the draft and Marvin Harrison Jr. was the only first-round player to be selected when he went No. 4 to the Arizona Cardinals.
A to Z Sports’ Travis May believes that changes next year when he is projecting five different Ohio State Buckeyes to be deserted in the first round of his way-too-early NFL mock draft.
Egbuka was one of quite a few Buckeyes to go back to school to take care of unfinished business. It was originally projected that Egbuka was going to be a first-rounder last year, but an injury slowed him down some and cut his production in half to under 600 yards as a junior. With NIL in place, Egbuka is back and should have a bigger season turning him into an early-round pick.
Burke was Ohio State’s top corner last year and the thought was that he’d go pro, but he was the first Buckeye to announce he’d return following last season. Burke will again be Ohio State’s top corner and if he can continue to show he can survive on an island he will hear his name called early.
The theme of Ohio State’s early-round talent will be players who could have gone last year but stuck around. Henderson was productive as a freshman before seeing injuries slow him as a sophomore. He rebounded pretty nicely as a junior and could have gone pro, but is now set to form the top running back duo in the country with the next pick.
After being one of the most productive running backs in the country at Ole Miss, Judkins transferred to Ohio State where he wanted to compete for a national championship. If Judkins can put together his third straight stellar college football season, there’s no reason he shouldn’t the one of the top backs in the cycle.
Since stepping on campus, Williams has been a productive interior pass rusher with 9.0 sacks in three seasons. He was a nice player in the middle of the last few years with Michael Hall Jr. and should be set up for a big senior season with a College Football Playoff in mind.
The production has never been overwhelming for Tuimoloau, who has 12 sacks in three seasons and had a career-high five last season. A 275-pound player who can set the edge or potentially slide inside in the NFL, his traits are something that the NFL has been high on for a couple of years.
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